10 Steps You Know You Should Be Taking to Grow Your Church – But Aren’t

by: James Emery White

What if I gave you a list of ten things that any church could do that would bring almost immediate renewal and growth?

Would you be interested in the list?

Most would be.

So here it is:

  1. Simplify your structure by putting the authority to make most decisions related to the practice of ministry in the hands of those with responsibility. Translation: let your leaders lead.
  2. Hire young, platform young, program young. Why? You attract who you platform, and most churches are growing old.
  3. Become more contemporary in terms of music and graphics, décor and topics, website and signage. It’s 2015. Really. You can check.
  4. Stop preaching and start communicating. There’s a difference.
  5. Shift the outreach focus away from the already convinced toward those who are not. It’s called the Great Commission.
  6. Prioritize your children’s ministry in terms of money and staffing, square footage and resources. Do you really not know, after all this time, that the children’s ministry is your most important ministry for outreach and growth?
  7. “It’s the weekend, stupid.”
  8. Help everyone find their spiritual gifts and then help them channel those gifts toward ministry.
  9. Target men. Get the man, you tend to get the family.
  10. Proclaim the full counsel of God without compromise or dilution. All you get with a watered-down message is a watered-down church. And a watered-down church has nothing to offer the world it does not already have.

Now, what if I told you that the vast majority of churches already know this list. Not only do they know the list, they would agree with most if not all of it.

But they refuse to act on it.

It’s true.

And the reason tends to be the same, in church after church, around the world: they don’t want to change.

Which brings up another list.

It’s the list of the seven last words of the church:

“We never did it that way before.”

> Read more from James Emery White.

 Would you like to know more how to take steps to help your church grow? Connect with an Auxano Navigator and start a conversation with our team.

Download PDF

Tags: , , ,

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Leadership >

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Emery White

James Emery White

James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC, and the ranked adjunctive professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, which he also served as their fourth president. He is the founder of Serious Times and this blog was originally posted at his website www.churchandculture.org.

See more articles by >

COMMENTS

What say you? Leave a comment!

Josh — 05/02/17 4:21 am

Every home descriminates towards the young. That is how healthy families work :)

Willie Harper — 12/28/15 5:29 pm

It's not about growing a church its about getting people truly saved. our yes or the gospel is so weak today because we are not telling sharing complete truth. I don't need to know about building a church that's God's job. We all need to come together and face the facts of truth concerning salvation but nobody is interested everyone have their own little safety net and satisfied with fragmented truth. I'm sick of the church world and all of its philosophical theology that opposed complete truth. Jesus is coming soon and that will settle it all one lord one faith one baptism. Acts 2:38-47. That's how the church began and steel should be today but men have changed it and the church world suffers

Marcos — 12/09/15 7:28 pm

Niiiice. Intentional age discrimination at church.

Related Items

  1. 3 Features of Church Government NOT Found in the Bible
  2. Design to Handle the Exception – Not for the Exception
  3. The Marathon of Leading Yourself: 9 Areas for Constant Improvement
  4. Mind the Gaps: Build Basic Innovation Skills First
  5. Honoring the Life and Legacy of Lyle Schaller
  6. The Power of the Pause in Successful Leadership
  7. How Passionate is Your Tribe? 5 Questions
  8. Technology, Leadership and Their Influence on Ministry
  9. 6 Core Responsibilities of the Senior Pastor
  10. Five Tools to Develop a Strong Work Ethic
Recent Comments
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for this information. I'm going to use this article to improve my work with the Lord.
 
— Abel Singbeh
Read Article >
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked. I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
 
— Dave
Read Article >
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.
 
— Argaw Alemu
Read Article >
 

Clarity Process

Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.